posted at 9:21 pm on June 6, 2013 by Mary Katharine Ham

Who’s ready for the world famous and highly anticipated one-piece, conservative beach sarong competition? I can imagine a scenario in which a Western contestant, keen on the kind of nose-thumbing at stuffy cultural norms that lifted the dreary “Little Miss Sunshine” to Oscar commendations and would lift her to viral video fame, rips off her sarong to reveal—gasp!—a shocking two-piece swimsuit. Sadly, an act which truly gave power and purpose to a display of the female form would probably be tsk-tsked by the same people who lectured Americans about their “puritanical” nature after, say, Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction. Not to mention, she’d probably earn a fatwa along with her fame.

Indonesia will host the 2013 Miss World competition in the country’s resort island of Bali and the capital, Jakarta, in September.

Adjie S. Soeratmadjie, one of the local organizers, said Thursday that all contestants will be required to wear Bali’s traditional long sarongs instead of the sexy bikinis that are traditionally part of the competition.

Controversy over the pageant has been mounting in Indonesia, which has a reputation as a tolerant, pluralist society that respects freedom of expression.

Clerics of the Indonesian Council of Ulema, or MUI, said they would send a letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to demand that the beauty pageant be canceled.

“That contest is just an excuse to show women’s body parts that should remain covered,” said Mukri Aji, a prominent cleric from West Java province’s MUI branch. “It’s against Islamic teachings.”

Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, a hardline Islamic group, said it planned to stage a protest and called for the competition to be moved elsewhere.

Most Muslims in Indonesia, a secular country of 240 million people, are moderate, but a small extremist fringe has become more vocal in recent years.

You don’t say. And, we happily buckle to these blowhards at the mere suggestion of a protest? This isn’t just a problem with religious Muslims, though their protests do generally carry with them a higher than average carnage quotient, but with Western society bending to every single neighborhood narc or busybody who sends an irate letter to the editor. No wonder certain populations find threats of violence so effective. I’d say we’re happy to shoot ourselves in the foot, but I’m pretty sure we’ve banned that metaphor at the behest of Moms Against Violence or whatever.

This will be the first time Miss World contestants have not donned bikinis since 1950, but methinks we won’t hear much about it from the “turn back the clock” crowd, which thinks a birth control copay is tantamount to the ignominy of a dowry negotiation. I was never a pageant participant and have certain reservations about them, but it’s not a victory for the ladies if these decisions come at the puritanical, patriarchal, and occasionally violent whims of a bunch of dudes. Lady Gaga canceled a concert in Indonesia last year amid threats from the Islamist community, which dubbed her a “devil’s messenger” in “bra and panties,” which should totally have become a single by now! J-Lo covered herself and all her dancers before a Jakarta performance.

Breaking on Hot Air

Blowback

Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.

Comments

And this site is considered main-street/moderate conservative website??!!! How is this different from the racist, bigoted comments posted on websites like worldnetdaily??
Salahuddin on June 6, 2013 at 10:37 PM

Let me get this straight. It’s OK to force a 6 year old girl to marry a 50 something year old abusive pedophile, but it’s not OK to have a decades old bikini part of the pageant in your country in fear that immigrants may protest because they think it’s dirty. If you think that cowering to savages will calm them, then don’t question bad results.

Since the islamist extremists don’t believe women should be educated, I guess we should cancel any talent competition and certainly no question and answer on world issues because that would require education. Any flesh or tight fitting outfit that shows a girl’s figure is scandalous so we really should have them wear burqa’s that only show their eyes. Thus we can have an eye candy competition that really is nothing but their eyes.

And this site is considered main-street/moderate conservative website??!!! How is this different from the racist, bigoted comments posted on websites like worldnetdaily??
Salahuddin on June 6, 2013 at 10:37 PM

I didn’t know Indonesia was a Catholic country. Because last time I checked Christian priests didn’t mind molesting little boys.

Simple solution:
Its a short hop over to Thailand. PatPong area would love to do it.
How about Hua Hin? A great beach resort.
We need to, as a global society, stop bowing to stuff like this. Everyone, and I mean everyone is entitled to their own religious, cultural and social morals but don’t force them on anyone else.

And this site is considered main-street/moderate conservative website??!!! How is this different from the racist, bigoted comments posted on websites like worldnetdaily??
Salahuddin on June 6, 2013 at 10:37 PM

I didn’t know Indonesia was a Catholic country. Because last time I checked Christian priests didn’t mind molesting little boys.

If you are thinking about visiting say Indonesia or Malaysia, think again.

Sherman1864 on June 6, 2013 at 11:51 PM

Nah. At least, this isn’t a recent change. If you were willing to visit 10 years ago, you’re still good.

The whole deal with Bali is that it’s this isolated Hindu island in a sea of Islam. Well, Islam to the west anyway. The next island over is Lombok and it’s heavily Islamic, but the rest of the Eastern islands are at least a mix of Islam, Christian, Catholic and just plain animism.

But the Balinese try to hold off Muslims and hold onto their own traditions. You could build a bridge from Java to Bali, they’re so close, but the Balinese won’t let it happen, because the ferries act as a bit of a stopgap to a total flood from Java. From time to time they’ve kicked out the (largely Muslim) street sellers when they start to become too bothersome to tourists. And after the bombings you could find plenty of t-shirts with strongly worded anti-(Islamic)terrorist sentiments right there on the street.

So hosting this event in Bali was probably not supposed to be like hosting it somewhere else in Indonesia, per se. A little like Vegas as compared to, I dunno, somewhere less Vegas-y. I can’t imagine the protest to the costumes started in Bali, nor that they’re very happy about it.

It all is coming together. The Miss World Pageant needs to ban skin because of “fringe” islamist threats. The British government is so cowed that soldiers may not wear their uniforms in public for fear of enraging the islamists.

A virtual lone voice in England is protesting the sharia-ization of England and the loss of English law, culture and social standards. Some US States are enacting laws, probably perfunctory, disallowing sharia to be implented in their States.

But with every phone!, internet computer and credit card communication being tracked and monitored, the freedom of each state will be nullified: every conversation between a state representative, and a DA, or a committee secretary, or a political organizer regarding any objective which could be potentially defiant of the federal government will be monitored and responded to preemptively.

You’re right. That was inappropriate. I didn’t have to stoop to his level, but the ignorance and the hateful comments coming from some of the people posting on here is appalling and quite disgusting. I apologize to all my Catholic friends.

I didn’t have to stoop to his level, but the ignorance and the hateful comments coming from some of the people posting on here is appalling and quite disgusting. I apologize to all my Catholic friends.

Why would Miss World host in Muslim nation and expect to bring Western mores and values? Does anybody in this thread believe that any Muslims are good people? Is Muslim-bashing OK with HotAir moderators? What’s the standard? What slurs are acceptable?

This is pathetic. I expect better from MKH or at least I did.

Capitalist Hog on June 6, 2013 at 9:46 PM

What a series of silly questions.

Here are some better questions. Does the fact that Miss World is hosted in Indonesia this time really mean that it must now conform to whatever demands Indonesian Muslims make? Isn’t it primarily a Western world invention? Doesn’t the mere fact that bikini competitions have been a part of it for so long pretty much answer that question.

As for Muslim-bashing, there are many people who have low opinions of Islam, myself included. Why should it be demanded they keep quiet? And I completely reject the kind of moronic thinking that says, “The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam.”

If SparkPlug thinks Muslims are “members of a misanthropic goat cult pseudo religion based on abusing women and hating Jews” and “seventh century neanderthals,” then he should be able to say so. If you don’t like it, explain why they’re not misanthropic, don’t abuse women, don’t hate Jews, and are advanced beyond the 7th century.

The worst thing about what SparkPlug said is that so much of it is true. It’s easy to document that the Muslim world has attacked pretty much every other nation and religion, including Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, and pagans. Treatment of women has long been a sore subject. The hatred of Jews has been a feature of Islam throughout its existence. And devout Muslims still believe the culture of Mohammed, which was 7th century Arabian culture, is the culture we should all aspire to.

This isn’t just a problem with religious Muslims, though their protests do generally carry with them a higher than average carnage quotient, but with Western society bending to every single neighborhood narc or busybody who sends an irate letter to the editor.

Nail, meet hammer. Western society has become one in which the minority of one can dictate change for the majority. Most of the time they only have to have a loud mouth and the caving will begin.

The biggest problem I see with no bathing suits is that they are putting those poor girls into outfits that get all those Muslim men all hot and bothered. We already know woman’s hair gives off “rape rays” and I fear for their safety.

flicker on June 7, 2013 at 12:03 AM
The British government is so cowed that soldiers may not wear their uniforms in public for fear of enraging the islamists.

The military following Lee Rigby’s murder said soldiers off duty/barracks,travelling alone and within London, to not wear their uniform while more information was being gathered about the threat.
It was official guidance for off duty soldiers

Hours later,David Cameron who leads the British government overturned it